Transfer means for strip random access system



TRANSFER MEANS-FOR STRIP RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEM Filed Oct. 18, 1965 Jan. 2, 1968 c, H. BURNS. JR, ETAL 5 Sheets-Sheet l FIGJ MERYL E. MILLER LOUIS w. THIES INVENTORS CECIL H BURNS JR THEIR ATTORNEYS Jail. 2,

Filed Oct. 18, 1965 1968 c. H BURNS, JR. ETAL 3,361,134

TRANSFER MEANS FOR STRIP RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 THE 11 R ATTORNEYS Jan. 2, 1968 c. H. BURNS. JR, ETAL 3,361,134

TRANSFER MEANS FOR STRIP RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEM Filed Oct. 18, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 iNVENTORS CECIL- H. BURNS,JR. MERYL E. MILLER LOUIS w. THIES' 4 Y m mi f wwfi I THEIR ATTORNEY$ Jan. 2, 1968 c. H- BURNS. JR. ETAL 3,361,134

TRANSFER MEANS FOR STRIP RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEM 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 18, 1965 INVENTORS Jan. 2, 1968 H. BURNS, JR, ETAL ,3

TRANSFER MEANS FOR STRIP RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEM Filed 00t- 18, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 g a E m K g N (\l mvsmons g CECIL H. BURNS,JR. MERYL E. MILLER LOUIS W. THIES THEIR ATTO'RNEYS United States Patent 3,361,134 TRANSFER MEANS FOR STRIP RANDOM ACCESS SYSTEM Cecil H. Burns, Jr., Palos Verdes Estates, Meryl E. Miller,

Gardenia, and Louis W. Thies, Palos Verdes Estates,

Calif., assignors to The National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Filed Oct. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 497,274 7 Claims. (Cl. 129-161) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus to accelerate the transfer of a selected strip away from a releasably supported assembled group of strips. An accelerator means is provided along the side edges of the assembled group of strips. A strip selector causes one of the strips to be released from the assembled group of strips and contact thereof with the accelerator means causes the selected strip to be accelerated away from the assembled group.

This invention relates generally to random-access storage systems employing flexible magnetic storage strips, and, more particularly, to improved means for controlling the transfer of randomly selected strips from a magazine to a rotating capstan.

A random-access storage system of the prior art is disclosed in a copending US. patent application Serial No. 12,032, filed on Mar. 1, 1960, inventor Eugene H. Irasek, and assigned to the same assignee as this application. In that system information is magnetically recorded on strips of flexible magnetic material. The strips are manufactured by applying suitable coatings of magnetic oxide material to a substrate of polyester film. The strips are provided with coded retaining tabs formed at the upper ends thereof and are disposed to depend by their tabs from suitable selection and suspender means which forms part of a strip storage magazine. One strip at a time can be selectively released from the lower end of the magazine, to fall freely, i.e. without any mechanical aid, through a chamber towards a rotating capstan. As the leading or lower edge of the strip approaches the capstan, a suction produced through perforations in the surface of the capstan draws the strip to the capstan whereby the strip is rapidly accelerated and carried by the capstan past a magnetic transducer region having freading and writing magnetic transducer means. The capstan also imparts suflicient momentum to the strip to cause the strip, under the action of centrifugal force, to follow an upward path through an appropriate guideway back to the magazine. The guideway guides the moving strips up over the magazine and down to a stopped position within a magazine loading means which, in turn, loads the strips back onto the suspender means of the magazine. A uniform stream of air is blown down through all the strips within the magazine to insure that the depending strips in the magazine are maintained in spaced-apart relationship, thereby assisting a selected strip to fall out of the bottom of the magazine.

The system is able to store, for example, two hundred fifty-six strips within the magazine wherein each strip is, for example, 14 inches long and 3% inches wide, and has over two hundred thousand bits recorded on the magnetic oxide layer coated thereon. Since any desired strip may be selectively released from the suspender means, dropped to a transducer means, operated on, returned to a stopped position, and finally loaded back onto the suspender means within a fraction of a second, relatively rapid access is available to any one of the strips. However, with the advent of faster computers still faster access time to Patented. Jan. 2, 1968 the strips is required so that the computers may operate more efliciently.

One of the problems associated with such a random access storage system of the prior art is to control the accelerating movements of a strip during its travel through the system. Thus, a strip released from any selected position along the bottom side of the magazine freely falls through a generally V-shaped chamber to the rotating capstan where the leading edge of the strip is grabbed by the suction provided on the surface of the capstan to cause the strip to be rapidly accelerated. Since the strip is inherently flexible, the rapid acceleration tends to cause the unrestrained upper portion of the strip to whip about as it passes through the chamber. Thus, the tabs formed on the upper end of the strip and the oxide layer are subjected to damage and wear, thereby limiting the useful life of the strips. One approach for alleviating this problem is taught by another commonly assigned, copending United States patent application Ser. No. 316,106, filed Oct. 14, 1963, inventors Glaser et al., now Patent No. 3,291,133 which discloses that a suction is formed and surface rollers are provided on one of the sloping walls of the V-shaped chamber to arrest the whipping action and to keep the selected strip moving towards the rotating captsan. Although the surface rollers and suction means in the V-shaped chamber help prolong the life of the strips, the acess time to any one of the strips is about the same as in a system where no such surface rollers or suction means are employed in the V-shaped chamber.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide means in a strip random-access system for reducing the access time to any one of the strips.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a more positive control for transferring a randomly selected strip from a magazine to a rotating capstan at such a speed that the rate at which the strip is accelerated by the capstan is reduced.

Another object of this invention is to reduce excessive Wear on randomly selected strips being transferred from a magazine to a capstan by providing suction and resilient means in the walls of the V-shaped chamber connecting the magazine to the capstan to thereby further control the motion of the strip as it is being positively transferred therethrough.

Briefly, the present invention provides a strip accelerator means for engaging any randomly selected strip after it is released from a selection and suspender means but still in the magazine. The strip acceleration means provides a more positive control for the selected strip than previously provided in the prior art while the selected strip is being transferred towards a rotating capstan. The strip acceleration means comprises two continuously rotating driving rollers disposed on opposite sides of the strip storage magazine adjacent the vertical edges of the strips. The edges of each strip are provided with arcuate indentations and the driving rollers are disposed relative to the arcuate indentations so that when the strips are depending from the selection and suspender means they are not contacted by the rollers. However, once a strip is released and starts to fall, its edges immediately contact the rollers, and the selected strip is forced downward by the rollers augmenting the action of gravity and any pushing force that might be provided by the stream of air blowing down through the strips, and thereby reducing the transmit time required for the selected strip to travel from the magazine to the rotating capstan.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter be made apparent or will become apparent upon consideration of the appended claims and from the following description of a typical embodiment of the invention that is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of the random-access storage system;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged pictorial view of the magazine with the magazine cover and loader removed and a portion of the stack of strips cut away showing the strip accelerator and a selected strip ready to be engaged by the surface of the rotating capstan;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged pictorial view of the central portion of the magazine showing another view of the strip accelerator;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevation of the magazine showing a released strip being forced downward by the strip accelerator;

FIG. 5 is a pictorial view of a flat, flexible information storage strip showing the arcuate indentations formed on opposite vertical edges thereof; and

FIG. 6 is an elevation of the V-shaped chamber disposed below the magazine showing the proximate structure in partial section.

Referring to FIG. 1, the various mechanical components of the random-access storage system are shown assembled on an upright back plate 11. The upright plate 11 is suitably mounted on a frame 13, partially shown. The frame 13 is part of an enclosed console (not shown) that may also enclose suitable electronic control circuits for the system. The electronic control circuits provide the signals to activate various mechanical components of the system. The signals are fed through suitable wiring that is disposed on the back side of the plate 11 and substantially hidden from view.

This embodiment of random-access systems stores information on strips 12 in the form of magnetic recordings. A typical strip is shown in FIG. 5. The strips 12 are flat, flexible atnd relatively long in relation to their width and are made of, for example, magnetic oxide coated on a flexible polyester base such as polyethylene terephthalate. For example, the size of each strip is 14 inches long, 3% inches wide and .006 inch thick. The thickness of the strips is shown exaggerated in its drawings for illustrative purposes only. The strips 12 are provided with coded tabs 14 (formed at the upper edge), side notches 15, and arcuate indentations 61, the purpose of which will be described hereinafter. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the strips 12 are disposed to depend lengthwise from a suspender means 16 that is fixed to the upright plate 11, and as disclosed in the above-mentioned Irasek application, Ser. No. 12,032, the suspender means 16 comprises eight horizontally disposed rod-like selector elements 17 and a pair of side rod-like gating elements which engage the coded tabs 14- and the pair of side notches 15, respectively, so that the strips 12 can be selectively released by first rotating certain ones of the rod-like selector elements 17 and then rotating both gating elements 21 outward from the strips to the position shown in FIG. 4. These rod-like elements are rotated by a solenoid means 18 (FIG. 1) which includes two banks of five solenoids 19, only the upper bank of solenoids being shown in FIG. 2. One solenoid is provided for controlling each of the selector elements 17 and each of the gating elements 20. The solenoids 19 are activated by selective signals supplied by the electronic control circuits. When the electronic control circuits activate any one of the eight solenoids coupled to the respective selector elements 17, the elements 17 pivot, as required, from the right to the left position as viewed in FIG. 4 to select a particular strip. Then the electronic control circuits activate the two solenoids coupled to the gating elements 20 to pivot these elements from their position within the notches 15 outwardly releasing the selected strip 12a. As shown in FIG. 1, in order to ensure that each strip will fall free of the suspender means 16 when selected, the strips 12 are maintained in spaced-apart relationship by a stream of air passing through the upright plate 11 and directed by a suitable air duct 21. The stream of air is directed down through the strips 12. The strips while on the suspender means 16 are enclosed within a magazine 22 whose bottom communicates with a V-shaped chamber 23.

Since the strips 12 are in spaced-apart relationship on the suspender means 16, any released strip is able to drop from the suspender means. After a released strip drops freely, i.e. without any mechanical aid, e.g., a few thousandths of an inch the released strip is engaged by a strip accelerator means 26 and is rapidly driven downward into the V-shaped chamber 23. The strip accelerator means 26, being a separately driven positive control, causes a released strip to arrive at a rotating capstan 27 much faster than a free falling strip would arrive at the rotating capstan 27. The strip accelerator means 26 will be described more fully hereinafter.

The V-shaped chamber 23 includes two converging walls 28 and 29 for guiding the lower edge of any released strip towards the periphery of the rotating capstan 2'7. When the leading edge of the strip passes through the narrow opening at the bottom of the V-shaped chamber 23, the strip is attracted to the rotating capstan 27 by a suction created by drawing air through suitable holes 31 (FIG. 6) formed on the capstan. The rotating capstan 27 carries the strip past a transducer means 33 (FIG. 1) that has read and write magnetic heads located at the upper end thereof, adjacent the capstan 27. The read and write signals are transmitted to and from the transducer means 33 through a suitable wire cable 34.

After the strip on the capstan passes the transducer means 33 one or more times, a gate means (located in the area of arrow 35) is actuated to cause the strip, due to centrifugal force, to leave the capstan 27 and enter a vertical guideway 38. The strip is guided upwards within the vertical guideway 38 and enters an arc-guideway 39. Within the arc-guideway 39, the strip interrupts a light beam shining on a photocell 4-1, and a signal is produced by the electronic control circuits. The signal indicates that a strip is returning to the magazine 22, and a loading means 42, which loads strips into the magazine, is prepared to receive the strip. The returning strip entering the loading means is accelerated or decelerated by a strip-control roller assembly 43 to a predetermined speed. After the strip is in the loading means, a strip loading cycle is performed by the loading means in response to a command signal generated by the electronic control circuits. Thus the strip is again disposed within the magazine 22 and suspending from the suspender means 16.

With the foregoing principal components of the apparatus, and their functions and relationships to each other being generally disclosed, a more detailed description of the above-mentioned strip accelerator means 26 which engages and drives any released strip out of the bottom of the magazine 22 will now be described. Re-

ferring to FIG. 2, there is shown an enlarged pictorial view of one embodiment of the strip accelerator means 26 assembled on the magazine 22. For clarity, the magazine cover and the loader means 42 are not shown in FIG. 2.

The strip accelerator means includes a driving roller 44 disposed at the back of the magazine 22 and another driving roller 4-7 disposed at the front of the magazine 22. The driving rollers 44' and 47 are suitably supported by a frame 48, so that their axes of rotation are disposed horizontally and parallel to the sides of the stack formed by the edges of the strips depending in magazine 22. Referring to FIG. 3, the driving rollers 44 and 47 are powered through suitable pulleys 52 and 53 fixed respectively thereto. The pulleys 52 and 53 are continuously rotated by an electric motor 54 driving a belt 56 engaging the pulleys. The belt 56 contacts the pulleys 52 and 53 so that the two pulleys rotate in opposite directions. For example, with the motor 54- rotating in the direction of arrow 57, pulley 52 rotates in the direction of arrow-58 and pulley 53 rotates in the direction of arrow 59. Thus the tangential direction of the moving surfaces of the driving rollers 44 and 47 within the magazine 22 is downward. The linear speed of the surfaces of the driving rollers is approximately one-third the linear speed of the surface of the capstan 27. The rotational speed of the driving rollers is determined by observing the acceleration rate of the released strip towards the rotating capstan. Therefore, the rotational speed of the driving rollers is set to provide the least access time to a randomly selected strip. For example, if the driving rollers 44 and 47 rotate too fast the driving rollers tend to slip on the edges of the strip and the strip is not efficiently accelerated. If the driving rollers 44 and 47 rotate too slowly there is relatively no slipping but the strip travels at a speed too slow relative to the speed of the capstan.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the strips are depending from the Suspender means 16, their arcuate indentations 61 are disposed between the driving rollers 44 and 47. To ensure that only the selected strip is contacted by the continuously rotating rollers 44 and 47 while the remaining strips in the magazine are not contacted by the rollers 44 and 47, the arcuate indentations 61 conform to the shape of the driving rollers 44 and 47. The driving rollers are disposed adjacent the indentations with a clearance of, for example, .005 of an inch between each driving roller and the conforming curvature of the indentation. The indentations 61 are provided with sufhcient clearance so that the driving rollers 44 and 47 do not contact the strips even though the strips 12 tend to sway while depending from the elements 17 and 20. When a selected strip is released by the gating elements 20, the strip falls freely for a short distance, for example, on the order of a few thousandths of an inch, causing the edges of the released strip to be contacted by the driving rollers and be forced downwards. Strip 12a is a typical released strip being forced downward by the driving rollers 44 and 47 wherein the spring action created by lateral bowing of the strip exerts a force against the rollers. To ensure that a friction force, produced between the edge of each released strip and the driving rollers, is sufiicient to urge the released strip downward, the driving rollers 44 and 47 have a coating 51 made of, for example, natural rubber having a Shore Hardness of approximately 70 duromoters. The hardness of the rubber coatings 51 is suflicient to prevent cutting or damage thereto by the sharp edges of the strips. Besides the edges of strip 12a being deflected inward by the driving rollers, the rubber coatings 51 deform slightly while the strip 12a is forced downward by the driving rollers into the V-shaped chamber 23. Referring again to FIG. 2, the position of the driving rollers above the V-shaped chamber 23 is such that when the lower edge of the released strip is adjacent the lower edge 62 of the wall 29 of chamber 23, the upper end of the strip is free of the driving rollers 44 and 47, as illustrated by the released strip 1212. Thus, interference between the force provided by the capstan and the force provided by the rollers is prevented. It should now be clear that the released strip reaches the capstan much faster than if no such accelerating means 26 is provided.

Since the driving rollers 44 and 47 cause the released strip to be travelling at a faster speed, than if dropped freely at the time when the strip is engaged by the rotating capstan 27, the degree of acceleration, to which the strip is subjected by the rotating capstan, is less severe. However, the accelerated strip because it is flexible, still has a tendency to whip about when pulled by the capstan, but to a lesser degree. Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown means located within the chamber 23 for further inhibiting the accelerated strip 12c from whipping about. The means includes a plurality of bores 63 and 64 formed in wall 28 of chamber 23. The bores 63 and 64 open into a vacuum chamber 66 from which air is drawn through a hole 67 formed in plate 11. Thus, when a strip such as 12c which was located in the proximate position of arrow 68 drops, the vacuum drawn through the bores 63 and 64 draws the strip 12c to the wall 28 and holds the strip thereagainst. The strip 12c does not hang up against the wall 28, because the strip 12c is initially being urged downward by the rollers 44 and 47, and then by the capstan 27. However, when a strip is selected from a position closer to the center of the magazine than the position of arrow 68, the vacuum drawn through the bores 63 and 64 is less effective in holding the strip against the wall 23, and therefore the wall 28 has a resilent layer 69 made of, for example, neoprene, to absorb any whipping force produced by a strip slapping thereagainst. For strips which are dropped from the other side of the magazine, the wall 29 has also a plurality of bores, such as bore 71, which connects the chamber 23 to the capstan chamber so that the suction formed on the surface of the capstan draws air through the bore 71. Wall 29 also has a resilent layer 72 similar to layer 69 on wall 28 to absorb any whipping force produced by a strip slapping thereagainst. In a system incorporating the present embodiment of the invention, the access time for any one of the strips is on the order of less than half the access time for systems without a strip accelerator means 26.

From the foregoing explanation of a preferred physical embodiment of the invention, modifications and changes therein will become evident to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is not limited to the specific details of the described exemplary embodiment but only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for providing random access to any strip of a group of strips, said apparatus comprising: first means for supporting said strips by the upper end thereof causing said strips to hang in a vertical position, second means co-operating with said first means for selectively dropping one strip at a time therefrom, third means for engaging a strip selected from said first means and transporting said strip to a place of use, and acceleration means disposed below said first means and positioned along the side edges of the strips while they are supported by said first means, said acceleration means being spaced from said third means a distance at least the length of the strips to avoid simultaneous contact of said third means and acceleration means with a selected strip, said acceleration means adapted for engaging any randomly selected strip after the strip has dropped freely for a short distance and accelerating the strip toward said third means.

2. An apparatus for providing random access to any strip of a group of strips, said apparatus comprising: first means for supporting said strips by the upper end thereof causing said strips to hang in a vertical position, said strips provided with indentations on the vertical side edges thereof, second means for selectively dropping one strip at a time from said first means, third means for engaging a strip selected from said first means and carrying said strip past a place of use, passageway means connecting said first means to said third means for guiding any selected strip to said third means, accelerator means comprising rotating rollers positioned within the spacings formed by said indentations on the vertical edges of the strips when the strips are being supported by said first means, said rotating rollers adapted for engaging any randomly selected strip after the strip has dropped freely a short distance from said first means and accelerating the strip through said passageway means toward said third means, and pneumatic means for preventing a strip passing through said passageway means from whipping about within said passageway means.

3. An apparatus for providing random access to any strip of a group of strips, said apparatus comprising: first means for supporting said strips by the upper end thereof and disposing said strips to hang in a vertical position, oriented face to face, forming a uniform stack;

each of said strips having indentations formed on each of the vertical edges thereof; second means for selectively dropping one strip at a time from said first means; capstan means for engaging a strip selected from said first means and transporting said strip past a place of use; passageway means connecting said first means to said capstan means for guiding any selected strip to said capstan means; and roller means disposed along at least one vertical edge of each or" said strips in said stack within the spacing formed by said indentations when the strips are being supported by said first means, said roller means adapted to engage a selected strip at its vertical edge and drive said strip through said passageway means towards said capstan means.

4. An apparatus for providing random access to any one of a group of strips having indentations formed on their edges, said apparatus comprising: first means for supporting said strips by the upper end thereof and disposing said strips to hang in a vertical position, oriented face to face, forming a uniform stack; second means for selectively dropping one strip at a time from said first means; a rotating capstan for engaging any strip selected from said first means and transporting said strip past a place of use; a V-shaped chamber having opposing converging walls connecting said first means to said capstan for receiving any one of the selected strips and guiding the strip to said capstan; two rotating rol ers disposed on opposite sides of said first means and positioned to nest within the respective spaces formed by said indentations when said strips are hanging on said first means to cause the edges of a selected strip, after falling a short distance from said first means, to contact said rollers forcing said selected strip through said V-shaped chamber towards said capstan; said converging walls having openings through which air is drawn to cause the selected strip when in proximity to said walls to adhere against one of said walls as the strip moves therethrough; a resilient layer disposed on at least one of said converging walls for absorbing the impact force a strip may make with the wall; and said rollers being positioned relative to said capstan to cause any seiected strip to be engaged by the capstan when the strip is released by the rollers.

5. An apparatus for providing random access to any one of a group of strips, said apparatus comprising: first means for supporting said strips by the upper end thereof and disposing said strips to hang in a vertical position, oriented face to face, forming a uniform stack; each of said strips having indentations formed on the vertical edges thereof; second means for selectively dropping one strip at a time from said first means; a rotating capstan disposed to engage a strip selected from said first means and carry said strip past a place of use; passageway means connecting said first means to said capstan for guiding any selected strip to said capstan; and accelerator means comprising continuously rotat' '7 rollers positioned within the spacings forme by said indentations when the strips are being supported by said first means, said rotating roller adapted to engage the vertical edges of any randomly selected strip after being released by said first means for accelerating said strip through said pasageway means towards said capstan means to mini iize the acceleration required to be made on the strip upon being engaged by said rotating capstan.

6. An apparatus for providing random access to any strip of a group of strips, said apparatus comprising: first means for supportinr said strips by the upper end thereof and disposing said strips to hang in a vertical position, oriented face to face, forming a uniform stack; each of said strips having an indentation formed on a vertical edge thereof; second mean for selectively dropping one strin at a time from said first means; capstan means for a strip selected from said first means and transporting said strip past a place of use; passageway means connecting said first means to said capstan means for guiding any selected strip to said capstan means; and roller means disposed long at least one vertical edge of each said strips said stack to cause said roller means to em; ge a selected strip at its vertical edge and drive said strip through said passageway means towards said capstan means; said roller means including at least one roller disposed to rot e about a substantially ho izontal axis, roller being positioned to nest with the space formed by said indentations when said st; are hanging on said first means to cause the vertical edge of any selected strip falling from said uniform stack to contact the roller while the strips remaining in said uniform stacl: do not contact the roller; and pneumatic means provided in said passageway means for prevent a strip passing therethrough from whipping about within said passageway means.

7. An apparatus for providing random access to any strip of a group of strips, said apparatus comprising: first means for supporting said strips by the upper end thereof and disposing said strips to hang in a verticai position, oriented face to face, forming a uniform stack; each of said strips having indentations formed on both vertical edges thereof; second means for selectiveiy dropping one strip at a time from said first means; capstan means for engaging trip selected from said first means and transporting said st in past a place of use; passageway means cotnecting said first means to said capstan means for strip to said capstan means; and ose' along the vertical edges of each tacit to cause said roller means to roller means i of said strips in engage a selected 0 strip throu a. means, said I'Qllfil' means including two rollers disposed on Opposite sides of said first means and positioned to nest within the respective spaces formed by indentations when said strips are hanging on said first means to cause the vertical edges of any selected strip falling from said uniform stack to contact said rollers, after said selected strip falls freely for a short distance from said first means, to force said seiected strip towards said capstan means, while the strips remaining in said uniform stack do not contact the rollers.

scanner,

Primary Examiner. 

